The Quran and Sunnah affirm that Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) was neither a Jew or a Christian, rather he worshipped none but Allah alone

All praise is for Allah. And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger, his Companions and those who follow his guidance.

To proceed:

01. Only a person who is devoid of knowledge and truly misguided would claim that the Jews and Christians follow the Religion of Abraham (peace be upon him) or that they are upon the “Abrahamic Faith” or that there are three Religions who constitute the Religion of Abraham (peace be upon him). Indeed, it is authentically reported that the Jewish and Christian scholars in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would state: “Abraham was neither a Jew or a Christian, rather he would worship none but Allah alone.”

135. They (the People of the Book) say, “Be you Jews or Christians, then you will be guided.” Say to them, “Rather, [we follow] truly the monotheistic religion of Abraham, and he was not of the polytheists.”

136. Say, O Muslims, “We believe in Allāh and what has been revealed to us, and what has been revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and his offspring amongst the Prophets sent to the Children of Israel, what was given to Moses, Jesus and the rest of the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, we believe in them all, and unto Allāh we have submitted as Muslims.”

67. “Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was Hanīf (worshipper of Allah alone), a Muslim and he was not of the polytheists.”

03. Ibn Kathīr about this verse (3:67) said: “Meaning he (Abraham) was far removed from polytheistic practices and idolatry and determined upon true faith (ēmān).”

At-Tabari said about the same verse: “Here Allah rejected and falsified the claim of those from the Jews and Christians who argue concerning Abraham and his Religion – those who assert that Abraham was upon their Religion – so Allah disassociated them from him (i.e. Abraham), and that they are in opposition to his Religion. [This verse] is a decree from Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) for the people of Islam and for the Ummah of Muhammad that they are the people upon the Religion of Abraham, and upon his Methodology and Law to the exclusion of all the people of other faiths and religions.”

04.So how misguided is the ignoramus who claims that the Jews and Christians are upon the faith of Abraham, saying: “So the monotheism, the values, the principles, of all Abrahamic Faiths, we do not reject them, we do not disrespect them… But monotheism, we agree with that with the Jews and Christians…” [1] This ignorant and innovated statement contradicts the verses of the Qur’an, it opposes the Tafsīr (scholarly explanations) of the Quranic verses as well as the Prophetic narrations that follow below in this article.

05. Asmā bint Abu Bakr said: I saw Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail standing with his back against the Ka’bah and saying, “O people of Quraish! By Allāh, none amongst you is on the religion of Abraham except me.” He used to protect the young girls from being killed. If somebody wanted to kill his daughter [as was the custom of the people of pre-Islamic ignorance] he would say, “Do not kill her, I will provide for her on your behalf.” So he would take her, and when she grew up in a goodly manner, he would say to her father, “Now if you want her, I will give her to you, and if you wish, I will continue to provide for her on your behalf.” (Reported by Al-Bukhārī, no. 3828)

06. The same Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail went to Syria, inquiring about a true religion to follow. He met a Jewish religious scholar and asked him about their religion. Zaid said, “I intend to embrace your religion, so tell me something about it.” The Jew said, “You cannot embrace our religion unless you receive your share of Allah’s anger.” Zaid said, “I do not run except away from Allah’s Anger, and I will never bear a bit of it if I have the ability to avoid it. Can you tell me of some other religion?” He said, “I do not know any other religion except Hanīf (monotheism).” Zaid enquired, “What is Hanīf?”The Jew said, “Hanīf (monotheism) is the religion of Prophet Abraham who was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and he used to worship none but Allah alone.” Then Zaid left the Jew and met a Christian scholar and asked him what he asked the Jewish scholar. The Christian said, “You cannot embrace our religion unless you receive a portion of Allah’s curse.” Zaid replied, “I do not run except from Allah’s curse, and I will never bear any of Allah’s curse or His anger if I have the power to avoid them. Will you tell me of some other religion?” The Christian replied, “I do not know any other religion except Hanīf.” Zaid enquired, “What is Hanīf?” He replied, “Hanīf (monotheism) is the religion of Prophet Abraham who was neither a Jew nor a Christian and he used to worship none except Allah alone.” When Zaid heard their statements about the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him), he left that place, and when he came out, he raised both his hands to the skies and said, “O Allah! I make You my witness that I am on the religion of Abraham.” (Reported by Al-Bukhārī, no. 3827)

07. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) met Zaid Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufail in the bottom of the valley of Baldah before any revelation had come to him. A meal was presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but he refused to eat from it. Then it was presented to Zaid, who said, “I do not eat anything which you slaughter in the name of your stone idols. I eat none but those things on which Allah’s name has been mentioned at the time of slaughtering.”

Zaid bin ‘Amr used to criticize the way Quraish used to slaughter their animals, and used to say, “Allah has created the sheep and He has sent for it water from the sky, and He has grown the grass for it from the earth [to eat], yet you slaughter it in other than the name of Allah.” He used to say it as a rejection of their idolatrous practice considering it as something abominable. (Reported by Al-Bukhārī, no. 3826)

08. Abu Umāmah said: I asked, “O Prophet of Allāh, when was the beginning of the mention of your affair?” He replied, “It was the supplication of my forefather, Abraham, then the glad-tidings announced by Jesus. Then my mother saw emanating from her [at my birth] a light that illuminated the palaces of Syria-Palestine.” (Ahmad in Al-Musnad, 5/262, with a hasan (authentic) chain of narration, declared as such by Al-Albāni in As-Silsilah As-Sahīhah, 4/62, under hadith no. 1546)